Day 14: Drawing Closer to God (The analogy of a light bulb)

I have always been a big fan of analogies because I like to have the visual aid. I thought of this analogy a while ago and have it in my collection of analogies that I envision using someday to use in a bible study that I will write and present. A devotional came to my inbox about the verse from Galatians 5:22 The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It talked about how this fruit is a product of us abiding in Jesus. I will let the visual that I put together speak the rest and pray it will bless you.

Pulling the Weeds

I came up with this analogy based on the idea of reflective journaling which has you look over your day and question where improvement is needed and praise where improvement was made. What weeds did you pull and did you pull them totally out. The analogy is of our soul being like a garden and like any garden, it needs to be tended to each day. The weeds of negative thinking have to be pulled out so that new seeds can be planted and grow. Weed pulling is not as simply as you think. You have to get to the roots and pull them out as well, otherwise, they will grow back.

Meditating Is an Imagination Stretcher

I meditated on Psalm 13:5-6 yesterday and I came up with an analogy and great visual of the truth of God’s unfailing love and how we can trust it. We can trust his unfailing love for us like we trust that the sun will shine every day. Though there are times where the storms and clouds cover the sun, it is still there and still shinning down on us. I went on to visualize the second half of the psalm about 'rejoicing in your salvation' I saw myself on the top of a mountain with my arms open wide and raised to the sky, twirling around in the delight of His presence. The third part of this Psalm is about singing to the Lord for he has been good to me. So, here I am on the mountaintop, like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music and that song comes to my head; the hills are aliiiiiiiiiiive with the sound of muuuuuuuuusic So, I had to put it into my words of praise; I am aliiiiiiiiiiiive with the love of Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus. My heart will be filled for a thousand years. 
Meditating becomes so much when you let your imagination take over. Give it a try and see what fun things you come up with that really help you sink the verse you are meditating on deep into your heart. 

WHO'S IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT?

My final day of the Daniel Fast was yesterday. As I had my first cup of coffee in three weeks and read my bible, it was impressed upon me the analogy of the Holy Spirit being in the driver’s seat and we who are now believers sit in the passenger seat. Those who are still controlled by the sinful nature and do not have faith in Jesus are still driving their cars and they will only lead themselves to destruction by driving over a cliff or head on into another car. We who have chosen to believe in Jesus now sit in the passenger seat but our sinful nature that is connected the our bodies is still at war and will do what it can to persuade us to take our focus off looking out the front window which is where the Holy Spirit is leading us to, to looking out the side window at things on the side of the road. We see signs that are from the evil one that may say food and gas next exit and we are tempted to tell the Holy Spirit take this exit and may even go as far as grabbing the steering wheel to pull us off onto the exit. We are trying to control and guide ourselves.  We are trying to satisfy our needs and wants and we are not remembering that God will take care of all our needs, will bless us and is leading us to Himself. During this Daniel Fast, I realized I had put the Holy Spirit in total control of my eating. Those road signs that advertised homemade pie or frozen yogurt bar up ahead were not in control. I fully gave control and faith to the Holy Spirit and my needs were met. I discovered the sweet treat that God created in dates, I realized that meat is a yummy gift from God but it is not to be worshipped and discovered that caffeine is a blessing from God but again not to be worshipped. So as we step into our cars figuratively each day, we need to stop and say out loud to the Holy Spirit, take the wheel and lead me in this day that I may produce good fruits and glorify God in all I do and say. You may have to stop and tell the Holy Spirit this throughout your day to remind yourself that you are putting your faith in Him to guide you and keeping your focus out the front window and on the road ahead. It reminds me of that first year with my husband and having him drive. I was critical about how he drove and his ability to get us where we needed to go. I was constantly saying something or gritting my teeth and speaking those controlling thoughts in my mind but the trust in him was built up enough that I was able to let go of the controlling thoughts and be at peace knowing he was getting us safely to where we needed to go. Our trust in the Holy Spirit can be built up too through time spent in the Word of God, in prayer and worship. We must feed our spirits with spiritual food in order for us to be able to put a “stopping hand” to the evil one and looking ahead to the glory we will have in meeting Jesus in our final home that he is preparing for us. Imagine it! Him being a carpenter, he is designing the home I will live in specifically for me. A home with high ceilings, lots of light and views out the windows of mountains, beaches, sunrises, freshly fallen snow. A home with a kitchen that never needs cleaning and is always fully stocked with everything you need to cook up a feast for the family coming for dinner with Jesus at the head of the table. Imagine it. Believe it. Let the thought of your final home and hope guide your days here.

Romans 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Quinoa cereal recipe

Cup cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons Date Honey (made by covering pitted dates with water in a saucepan and simmering pitted dates for 45 min. Blend and store)

1 tablespoon Nikki's Chocolate Hazelnut Coconut Butter (found on Amazon)

Combine all ingredients. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup almond milk and enjoy.

 

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 341

I found this analogy of the trinity a while back. What a great reminder as the sun out there every day. You could go further with the analogy in saying that the clouds are our sins blocking our view of God. That's probably why I love it when I see rays of sunshine shining through a break in the clouds. Jesus brings us hope like those rays of sunshine bring us hope that the clouds will pass and we will be warmed by the sun again.

One way Bible students have tried to explain the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to compare the Triune God to the sun in the sky. They say that God the Father is like the sun, Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, is like the light streaming from the sun because he made the Father known to us. And then they say that the Holy Spirit is like the unseen heat generated by the sun and its light. It’s not a perfect illustration for it may give the impression that the Son and Holy Spirit are not as great as the Father (and they are), but it does a good job of emphasizing that the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit yet they are all somehow connected, in fact are one God, not three gods.

http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/the-holy-spirit-is-our-holy-helper-daniel-habben-sermon-on-holy-spirit-attributes-107244.asp

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 72

I find it interesting in Job that all his friends are giving him advice but it is misguided advice. The latest friend, Eliphaz tells him to submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. Unfortunately, although he got the first part right in turning to God, asking forgiveness and being obedient to him, the second half is not always the case, a prime example being Jesus who was the ultimate in righteous and yet was led to and nailed on a cross. His friend thought Job had sin that he was being punished for. There are definitely consequences to sin but they are not there to punish but rather to direct you back to the Almighty. I was thinking the other day of the analogy of the clay and the potter. We are the clay and God is the potter. He is sitting at his potting wheel pouring water over us which keeps us from drying out and is shaping us into something. When God is not at the potter’s wheel because we have turned away from him, the evil one is going to suck the life out of us leaving us a dark formless lump of clay, nothing.  We must ask God to come back and sit at the potter’s wheel, than the Holy Spirit will be poured into us giving us life and light and God will work again at shaping us to work into his plan. Will we be like a vase that stands there and shows the beauty of the picked flowers? Will we be like a pot that is mixing something up that will be for all? Or will we be like a pitcher made to pour out water? We will discover his plan for us as we journey through our faith. Job’s friend had his assumptions wrong. It is not about sin and being repentant and obedient to God so that we will have prosperity. It is about being in relationship with him. Job is angry at God but he is still talking to him. We too must keep talking to God through our struggles, troubles and tribulations and ask him to pour the water over us.

Job 23:16-17 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 48

I am finding that the fruits of the spirit are very much interconnected at least when it comes to joy. Joy is definitely connected to peace and love. And I am betting it probably associates with the other fruits as well.  The fruits of the Spirit can be like a fruit salad rather than individual fruits. The truth is when the Holy Spirit is within us, we do have all of the fruits and the more we call on the Spirit to ripen this fruit within us, the more we are growing and our fruits are getting peeled and cut and are turning into a delicious fruit salad. This is much like the analogy of the potter and the clay; God molding us into a beautiful pot. Everything is a process. We grow and change and get closer and closer to being what God intended for us, to be more like Jesus. This goal of becoming more like Jesus will give God so much joy. When we truly love God, we will have that motivation to do and be all that He wants us to be and we will be making Him joyful. Relationships are a give and take kind of thing. How well am I doing at truly loving God?

3John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 219

I really don't know what it is about being in the spa but that my mind goes to thoughts of God and what he wants me to do. Last evening, my daughter shocked me in the spa by dumping a cup of ice down my front-side. It was a fun moment and actully quite refreshing with the heat of the spa. My daughter ended up making some comment about ice and what its used for and immediately my mind snatched up the analogy of ice and purpose. Ice has  an over-all main purpose, to keep things cold but it does this in a variety of different ways like ice for a glass of lemonade, ice in a cooler to chill drinks and food, ice shaved and made into a snowcone or an ice bath for hard-boiled eggs and for the person whose fever has gotten too high. Maybe you can think of some other ways that ice fufills its purpose? We are like the ice. We have our main purpose to share the gospel and help bring the lost sheep to our Shepherd but how we do that differs. We each have our own gifts God has given us to help serve us in our purpose. It is a life-long quest to learn about our gifts so that we can use them for the purpose God has called us to. Here's a link for an on-line Spiritual Gifts Inventory:  http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/download.htm  Keep seeking wisdom and guidance and God will show the way.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 136

I talked to my kids the other day about the analogy of the spaghetti and the sauce and although my son was a bit stoic with an "uh-huh", Faith was a bit more interested. This apparently sunk in as this weekend as we were on a drive down into town she excitedly says I have got a good one. So, I asked her to go on and she tells me we are like the lemons in lemonade and our sin makes us sour but Jesus is the sugar and makes us better. I was both amazed and proud of my 9 year old daughter for coming up with her own analogy. So, the lemons have been bought and we will be making lemonade. I will, of course, take some picutures so that she can make her own faithbooking page about her lemonade analogy. I can't wait to share that one with you! Ask the Lord to sweeten you today and make you better.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who love me and gave himeself for me.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 132

Have you ever made up your own word? I think each of us has at one time or another. It may not become popular and evenutally get in the dictionary but our creative nature makes us want to make up our own words. Last night we were to have left overs for dinner. Faith came down and was directed by Dad to look in the fridge. He jokingingly said you could have the spaghetti. This was because the spaghetti was the noodles and sauce together. She's a plain noodle eater so sauce is a big no-no. She very matter-of-factly says "it's been saucified!" How stinking cute was that! Now this food togetherness issue has been going on since about age 2. We certainly had hoped she would have grown out of it by now but I think she will be like I was, a late bloomer. In any case, when I think of this issue of togetherness with her food, it reminded me of our togetherness with the Lord. Are we trying to control our life and saying hold the sauce? or are we gratefully adding Jesus the sauce of our life to our noodles? How much better spaghetti and life is with Jesus being in it! We have to choose to put on the sauce of Jesus to our naked noodle life each day. Praise God for this silly kind of analgoy that came through the not-so-good issue with my daughter. I pray she will eat the spaghetti with sauce some day but thankfully I know that when it comes to Jesus she is living together with him. How about you? Have you been saucified? Pour Him on.
John 17:26 "I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 38

Happy New Year! This last month I have been wearing my letter "P" pin and have been focusing on a couple of "P" words in particular. Preparation, purpose and prayer but another one came to me that is a big part of who God is. That word is 'persistent'.

My hubbie and I watched a very good and funny movie about love. The central theme was the idea that we should be persistent and fight for our soul mate. God's soul mate is each and everyone of us. He's God he can have more than one soul mate!!! God is the ultimate in persistent! He never gives up on us and continues to find ways to guide us back to Him. Jesus used analogy alot in his teachings so I have tried to take that example of His and make up my own analogies using my own life experience and our own culture. This movie about soul mates and fighting for each other is a great analogy to how God fights for us. The movie is called Crazy Stupid Love but this kind of love is the kind of love we need to see more of in this world. So I am praising God for his crazy stupid love for me and you and praying that I can be like a mirror reflecting that love back out into this world to all those around me.
Psalm 119:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.